Scottish jurisdiction - from Mike Dailly, Govan Law centre

[BankFodder]

Hello [bankFodder]

We have been getting a lot of e-mails about which part of the UK people can raise proceedings.

 

This is clearly important for those people with claims of a thousand+ pounds (given the Scottish small claims limit of £750 and the Northern Ireland limit of £2,000; as against the English limit of £5,000). I also think England-based claimants are sometimes confused when suing Scottish banks.

 

Govan Law Centre doesn't have the resources to answer e-mails generally, so I have posted the legal position in terms of the Civil Jurisdiction & Judgments Act 1982 Act as amended in 2001. This as you may know is a law introduced from a EU Directive, and the 1982 Act applies across the UK (and indeed domestic variations of it across the EU generally).

 

The link is: Unfair UK Bank Charges | legal help from Govan Law Centre, Glasgow, UK

 

Hope this is helpful to some of your forum members.

 

Best wishes

 

Mike

 

Govan Law Centre

Glasgow

...

[yay]

Let me just get the absolutely right as I am about to take on Abbey and live in Glasgow and the amount is going to be approx £3,000. I can and should raise an action againts them (if need be) in London (where the bank is (£5,00 limit) but they can only raise an action against me in Glasgow (£750 limit)

 

I know its stating the obvious but I want to make sure before my OD is removed and account closed etc.

 

Thanks

[yay]

Further to this, if I raise a case in a London court, could I reclaim my expenses as part of the claim if I ever had to attend court?

 

Thanks

 

Kenny

[charlieho]

The bank don't have to use the small claims procedure (we do in case we lose )

Scottish Small Claims - Limit £750.00

Summary Cause for claim £750 to £1,500.00

Ordinary Cause -for amounts over £1,500.00

[Guest NATTIE]

I'm quoting from the Personal banking guide of NatWest dated February 2006 under account T&Cs section 1a page 5(in case you wanted to see it yourselves). Under general it says "If your address is in Scotland, Scottish law applies to the contract between you and us. If you live elsewhere, English Law applies between you and us."

[yay]

So can someone tell me if I can use an English court against Abbey as my claim will be approx £3,000, its not worth it if it's limited to £750. As far as I can see from Mike Dailly, Govan Law centre snippet, if I use a London court I will be ok up to £5,000. Natweststaffmedmber, there terms also state that they can charge you £30 if they want for bouncing a cheque- we know this isnt the case!

Am hoping this might be the case for living in Scotland and using English court, even if T&C say otherwise.

 

Can someone advise before I start the ball rolling?

Kenny

[yay]

Abby T&C

25 Governing law

 

These Conditions are governed by the law of the country in the UK (i.e. England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland) where you opened your account.

 

Am I stuck now to £750?

[Rooster-UK]

Yay.

 

Check the information by clicking on the link to Govan Law Centre that Bankfodder posted above.

 

To save you hunting for it, here it is again.........

 

Unfair UK Bank Charges | legal help from Govan Law Centre, Glasgow, UK

 

Hope that this answers your questions.

 

Good luck with your claim.

[Guest NATTIE]

Yay, I was quoting directly from a leaflet word for word. No mention of an amount of charges is mentioned simply that it can be made. Please try not to read something that isn't there. Having read the Govan article, it would not surprise me if in later cases for people chasing charges for accounts opened after Feb 2006(the date of the leaflet), that this point could be raised

[yay]

Hi,

 

natweststaffmember, I didn't mean to annoy you, you may have missunderstood the way in which it was written - sorry ! I have read the post bankfodder put up and it clearly states that I can raise a case against the bank

where they are 'domiciled' (London) - this is fine and great ! Prompted by natweststaffmember I read my own (current) Abbey "T&C" and they state

 

These Conditions are governed by the law of the country in the UK (i.e. England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland) where you opened your account.

 

So the Govan article says I can do it in London, my Abbey T&C (current ones, I dont have a copy of the ones I signed so they may have changed) say I am limited to Scotland. Which is right and how enforcable are Abbey T&C in court - is my point.

 

Kenny

[Rooster-UK]

By making unlawful punitive charges on your account then hiding behind T&Cs says to me that the T&Cs are just a smoke screen

Go for it.

[Guest NATTIE]

I read article and Law seems to be clear on jurisdiction. It was something that I thought potentially may be an issue to accounts opened after Feb 2006. Yay, apologies for feriousness not had me coffee